For those with an adventurous spirit, the alternative is these thousands of kilometers of beaches, lagoons, estuaries, bars, beaches, mangroves; many of them uninhabited, many virgin or almost, which are reached by gaps or dirt roads that represent a challenge in themselves.
The coast of the state of Sonora, which has 10% of the national coastline, is home to 100 "coastal wetlands", the name by which the bodies of water that form next to the sea are called today. Among hundreds of estuaries and lagoons of great ecological wealth that are preserved in a natural state and far from civilization, the Estero del Soldado was one of the most recommended to us due to its importance and location.
We left Guaymas on our bicycles and took the national highway no. 15 heading to Hermosillo, between trailers and trucks, in the middle of a burning desert climate. At that time I still did not understand how special a coastal wetland could be and how much I was willing to live this adventure of subsisting - together with my wife and my two dogs - only from what nature offers.
For an instant I felt the urge to stray into the city to face the sacred rite of having a cold drink under a fan, and falling asleep to the soft pounding of the waves, far, far from our cool hotel room. Fortunately, I continued and once we left the highway in the direction of San Carlos and reached the dirt road - in front of the Pilar Condominiums - things changed, the sounds of the engines and civilization were left behind, and suddenly I felt that you really have to listen to be able to hear; the movement decreases and takes a harmonic rhythm. Once there, I no longer had any doubts.
The Estero del Soldado is a sanctuary to life. The feeling of being in a totally isolated place, just a few kilometers from one of the busiest roads in the country, seemed unlikely and fascinating.
When we got to the beach we looked for a camping site taking into account the need for drinking water, which due to the high temperatures, means one gallon per person per day (4.4 liters). Finally, we decided on the eastern point next to the mouth of the estuary, where the Sea of Cortez opens its way, this being one of the best accesses, because contrary to the typical vegetation of the state, the estuary is surrounded by a dense mangrove and is quite inaccessible.
For both our dogs and us, the mouth of the estuary became an oasis in the middle of the desert. The water remains at a cool temperature despite having a maximum depth of one meter, between the continuous change of the tides. At noon the only movement was ours finishing the camp, because with the temperature, at that time, everything rests except the heat. This is a good time to lie under the shade of the awning and rest or read a good book, especially if you follow the example of the animals when digging a hole, because inside the sand is much cooler.
As the afternoon passes, the wind gathers strength so as not to disprove the fame that those in the Gulf of California have earned: it refreshes from the intense heat and cleanses the air of mosquitoes, but if the speed goes up it raises sand, which can be unpleasant, especially if you don't like to spice up your food with it.
The sunset brings with it air traffic: herons, seagulls and pelicans that fly from one place to another. With the changes of the tide, the movement of the fish turns the estuary into a whole market. At the end of the day the wind stops blowing and the calm is becoming absolute. This is the moment when mosquitoes attack but a good repellent keeps them at bay.
Twilight time becomes one of the most wonderful moments of the day, as these sunsets off the Sonoran coast are perhaps the most spectacular you have ever seen. The silence, which suddenly becomes total, prepares the darkness. The sky becomes a star-studded canvas; the first night we felt like we were in a planetarium.
The brilliance of the constellations is something magical; we seemed to be standing before the universe. But it also seemed to be at our feet, between the waters, when plankton (a certain type of plankton with luminous properties that are excited by movement) produce platinum phosphorescence that compete with the stars.
A bonfire and a good fish for dinner on the coals; a true delicacy, a gift from the sea, to recover lost energy. Absolute darkness in the middle of a wonderful silence and one believes that the estuary finally rests, but the reality is that it never does. The birds have left to return in the morning, but the abundant underwater fauna begins its activities.
At dawn, the estuary is visited by fishermen from the Empalme community and by some tourists who take advantage of this quiet moment. As “Bob Marlin” tells us, as he calls himself a professional fisherman from Arizona - who is dedicated to bringing groups of American fishermen - the estuary is one of the best places for fly fishing in the entire Gulf of California, although the visitors are so few that they do not alter the tranquility of the place.
It didn't take long for us to make friends with the local fishermen. They are simple and friendly, they tell us anecdotes of the high seas and they invite us to a snail, some fish and even a "caguamanta", a typical dish of the region that carries all kinds of seafood.
The days go by almost without realizing it, but with each one that passes we feel more vital and more integrated. We travel the estuary in a kayak and we enter the mangroves to learn about the complex system in which birds, raccoons, foxes, rodents and some types of snakes coexist. The variety of migratory birds in this ecosystem is so extensive that it would take an expert to identify them.
We fish and swim out to sea, sometimes with the surprise of a visit, almost always harmless but sometimes “surprising”, like that of a dolphin that came towards us at high speed, to stop in its tracks just half a meter from our bodies ; He "recognized" us, to put it somehow, and turned around, leaving us petrified.
We tested our endurance by climbing the mountains that separated us from Bacochibampo Bay. By bicycle we went up, down and through abandoned salt flats and ponds, while the sun's rays fell on our shoulders like red-hot needles.
For a few days our only commitment to life was to survive and contemplate this paradise; fill ourselves with stillness, travel and enter a world that only in its broad features is perceptible to the eye and ear, but is there, waiting for our attention to reveal itself, and to reveal that we can be part of each other, if we do not disturb , if we destroy ourselves, if we respect it.
